Less than three weeks after winning their most recent national basketball titles, the North Carolina men and Connecticut women were honored yesterday by the NCAA as academic overachievers.
The list singles out all teams that score between 976 and a perfect 1,000 on the Academic Progress Rate, significantly higher than the NCAA's cut line of 925 for poor performers. Those that excel are publicly recognized; those that consistently fall below 925 can be penalized.
This year 767 teams -- 11.9 percent of all Division I teams -- were honored, an increase of 55 from 2008. Actual scores from the data collected between 2004-05 and 2007-08 will not be released until May 6.
The Ivy League led all conferences with 144 teams honored. The Patriot League was second with 85 and the Big East third with 60. Of the 331 Division I schools, 205 had at least one team recognized. Yale was the leader for the third straight year, with 28 teams on the list.
Nine of the other 16 coaches hired were nonwhite. The report cited that development as encouraging, particularly after noting that college football has only seven black coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
BCA report lauds diversity in women's basketball hiring
INDIANAPOLIS -- Women's basketball is getting good marks in racial diversity for its coaching hires. Fourteen of 16 schools received A's for their hires before the 2008-09 season, according to the second report card in women's basketball released by the Black Coaches and Administrators.
Colorado State, which hired Kristen Holt, was the only school to receive an F. The report attributed that to Holt, a former assistant, being promoted without an external search.
Idaho was not included because of what the BCA described as an oversight that prevented it from collecting data.
